304 NATURAL HISTORY. 
feel themselves acted upon by a force sufficient for that 
purpose. They may thus be seen mounting aloft from 
the tops of twigs and blades of grass, from fences, ete. 
516. The architecture of Spiders has considerable va- 
riety. That of the house Spider and that of the com- 
mon geometric Spider are familiar to every one. That 
of the labyrinthic Spider is very curious. Its nest may 
be seen spread out a broad sheet on hedges, furze, low 
bushes, and sometimes on the ground. “The middle 
of this sheet,” says Rennie, “ which is of a close texture, 
is swung, like a sailor’s hammock, by silken ropes extend- 
ed all around to the higher branches; but the whole 
curves upward and backward, sloping downward to a 
long funnel-shaped gallery which is nearly horizontal at 
the entrance, but soon winds obliquely till it becomes 
quite perpendicular. This curved gallery is about a 
quarter of an inch in diameter, is much more closely 
woven than the sheet part of the web, and sometimes 
descends into a hole in the ground, though oftener into 
a group of crowded twigs or a tuft of grass. Here 
the Spider dwells secure, frequently resting with her 
legs extended from the entrance of the gallery, ready 
to spring out upon whatever insect may fall into her 
sheet-net.” 
517. There are some species of spiders that build their 
nests of clay, which they knead into due shape, and 
hence are called Mason Spiders. There is one of these 
found in the West Indies. This Spider digs a hole ob- 
liquely in the earth about three inches deep and one inch 
in diameter, the walls of it being made of clay. This 
cavity it lines with a thick web, which, when taken out, 
resembles a leathern purse. This tapestried chamber 
has a very singular door. It is made of about a dozen 
layers of this same lining, closely united together, and 
has a hinge of the same material. In Fig. 238 (p. 305) 
is represented the nest of another Mason Spider found 
in France, A being the nest shut, and B the nest open; 
